Brown Sugar | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: C/E G C | C F/A C :|| x4
||: Eb/G Ebadd9/G Eb/G | C F/A C |
| Ab Db/F Ab Eb/G Bb | C F/A C :||
Verse 1
| C | C |
Gold Coast slave ship bound for cotton fields.
| F | F |
Sold in the market down in New Orleans.
| C | C |
Skydog slaver know he’s doin’ all right.
| Bb | C |
Hear him whip the women, just around midnight.
Chorus 1
||: G5 | G7 | C | C F/A C :||
Brown Sugar, how come you taste so good, yeah?
Brown Sugar, just like a young girl should, ah ha, now.
Instrumental 1
| Eb/G Ebadd9/G Eb/G | C F/A C |
| Ab Db/F Ab Eb/G Bb | C F/A C |
Verse 2
Drums beatin’ cold, English blood runs hot.
Lady of the house wonderin’ when it’s gonna stop.
House boy knows that he’s doin’ all right.
You should have heard him, just around midnight.
Chorus 2
Brown Sugar, how come you taste so good, now?
Brown Sugar, just like a young girl should, yeah, yeah!
Instrumental 2
||: Eb/G Ebadd9/G Eb/G | C F/A C |
| Ab Db/F Ab Eb/G Bb | C F/A C :|| x4
Chorus 3
Aww, take it all Brown Sugar, how come you taste so good?
Oh, let me tell all about, the Brown Sugar, just like a black girl should, yeah
Verse 3
Now, I bet your mama was a tent show queen.
And all her boyfriends were sweet 16.
I’m no schoolboy but I know what I like.
You should have heard them, just around midnight.
Chorus 4
Brown Sugar, how come you taste so good, Baby?
Oh, no, no, Brown Sugar, just like a young girl should, yeah, yeah.
Instrumental 3
| G5 | G7 | C | C F/A C |
Chorus 5
||: G5 | G7 | C | C F/A C :||
I said, yeah, yeah, yeah, woo. How come you, how come you dance so good?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, woo. Just like a, just like a black girl should.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, woo.
Outro
||: Gm Gsus2 G5 G7omit3 | Gm Gsus2 G5 G7omit3 |
| Cm Csus2 C5 C7omit3 | Cm Csus2 C5 C7omit3 :||
| Gm Gsus2 G5 G7omit3 | Gm Gsus2 G5 G7omit3 |
| Cm Csus2 C5 C7omit3 | Cm Csus2 C7omit3 C5 | C5 |
Brown Sugar Chords: Master the Iconic Rock ‘n’ Roll Progressions
The intro and instrumental sections of Brown Sugar are incredibly complex—at least if you try to break them down using traditional music theory.
But if Keith Richards were explaining them, it would simply be: “Move the same idea over here.”
The first set of intro chords follows this pattern: C/E – G – C – C – F/A – C.
Played on strings 2–4, this is a classic rock ‘n’ roll riff, where the same shape is shifted from G to C. Keith then takes this idea and moves it to unexpected fret positions, giving the riff its signature sound.
Here’s what happens next: Eb/G – Ebadd9/G – Eb/G. Instead of moving to Bb (as you might expect), the Eb chord is extended to Ebadd9 before returning to the original sequence: C – F/A – C.
Next, the riff shifts to Ab, played as Ab – Db/F – Ab, before finally landing on Bb—which seemed inevitable a few bars ago: Eb/G – Bb. The section then resolves back to C – F/A – C.
It’s best not to overthink the theory. Instead, try approaching it like Keith—just move the shape and feel the groove.
Here’s the full intro and instrumental section:
||: C/E G C | C F/A C :|| x4
||: Eb/G Ebadd9/G Eb/G | C F/A C |
| Ab Db/F Ab | Eb/G Bb | C F/A C :||
Once the verse kicks in, things get much simpler—we’re in C, following a classic I – IV – I – bVIIx – I progression:
| C | C | F | F |
| C | C | Bb | C |
The chorus starts on the V chord, moving through V – I – IV – I:
| G5 | G7 | C | C F/A C |
| G5 | G7 | C | C F/A C |
Between the verse and chorus, the end of the intro is played again.
Finally, the outro introduces a completely new progression:
||: Gm Gsus2 G5 G7omit3 | Gm Gsus2 G5 G7omit3 |
| Cm Csus2 C5 C7omit3 | Cm Csus2 C5 C7omit3 :||
Below is a chord chart you can bring to the gig—after all, Brown Sugar’s chords can be tricky to remember, especially since they look unusual as chord names.
Once you’ve got them down, though, they make perfect sense in explaining what Keith is doing.
Brown Sugar Backing Tracks | Chord Chart
(PDF + iReal Pro)
Using AI, I made two backing tracks for you to play along with at the top of this page. The second one has vocals.
When I make these backing tracks, the instruments left on (bass and drums) are usually pretty clear, this is not the case when it comes to Brown Sugar which ended up with very, very little bass.
You can also hear a bit of saxophone which sounds like a weak and broken Kazoo.
As annoying as this was during the process of making the backing track, I found that once I started playing along, focusing on nailing Brown Sugar‘s chords and riffs, it didn’t really bother me anymore.
To download my chord chart, you can choose between a static PDF or the iReal Pro format.
Using the iReal Pro app, you can change the key—though for Brown Sugar’s chords, I really can’t see that being a great idea. If you’ve played them, you’ll know why!
By the time The Rolling Stones released Brown Sugar, they were already well-established
As the opening track and lead single from their 11th studio album, Sticky Fingers, Brown Sugar was a major chart success in 1971. It hit #1 in the U.S. and Canada, reached #2 in the U.K., and topped the charts in New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland.
By then, the Stones had already built a formidable catalogue of hits, including (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, Honky Tonk Women, Sympathy for the Devil, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Ruby Tuesday, and As Tears Go By. Their rebellious image made them the bad-boy alternative to contemporary rivals The Beatles, who would break up the following year.
The Stones famously never quit, going on to release Wild Horses, Angie, Miss You, Beast of Burden, and Start Me Up.
Brown Sugar even secured a spot on Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, coming in at #495.
Brown Sugar Chords | Related Pages
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
- All Right Now
- Honky Tonk Women
- Money (That’s What I Want)
- You Really Got Me